Brickmaking-machine.



l. C, FREY.

smcxMAmN MACHINE.

APPLCATION FILED DEC.1 1915.

Patented Apr. 15, 1919.

l. C. FREY.

BRICKMAKING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED 0512.1. 191s.

Patented Apr. 15, 1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

l. C. FREY.

BRICKMAKNG MACHINE.

APPLICATION man nic. 1, 1915.

1,301 ,048. Patented Apr. 15,1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET IlA Inventor; 156m, (Z'ey,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

NAN C. mY, l' YGBK, PENNSYLVANIA.

ICG-MACHINE.

lpecmcation of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 15, 1919.

Appleman ma member 1, 191s. semi no. sans.

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, IVAN C. Fm, a c1t1- zen of the United States, residing in the city of York, county of York, and State of Pennsylvania, have `invented certain Improvements in Brickmaking-Machines, of which the following is a specication.

y My invention is a,machine desi ed articularly for making soft clay bric an the principal objects of my invention are to rovide a machine of simple construction w ich will produce perfect bricks in large quantities at low cost by a continuous automatic operation, without waste of material an with elimination of manual labor.

In the preferred forni of my invention, clay supplied to a tempering chamber is autematica ly worked and fed into a hopper from which it is discharged through a die into molds and compressed therein by the action of a reciprocating ram or plunger, the compression of the clay in the hopper acting to depress a strike knife which removes surplus clay from bricks passin thereunder and returns the excess materia to the hopper. The molds are moved about a circular housing by toothed wheels and into position to be struck by a vibratory knooker which loosens the clay from the molds walls so that when the molds are inverted the bricks drop out onto a counterbalanced table by which they are deposited on a conveyer and carried to a drying room. The empt molds are then automatically sanded an ,returned to position for filling, surplus sand falling from the molds being collected and returned lto the sanding device.

The characteristic features of myinvention will more fully appear from the following specification and the accompanying drawings in illustration thereof.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a machine embodyin my improvements; Fig. 2 is a longitudine sectional view thereof; Fig. 3 is an end view thereof; Fig. 4 is an elevation of the strike knife supporting mechanism, with arts broken awa for better illustration o the die; Fig. 51s a transverse sectional view on the line 5 5 of Fig. 2' and Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a mold used in my machine. 'y

AS shown in thev drawings, my machine com rises a frame having standards 1 and 2 w ich support a tempering trou h 3, and a housing 4 in which are Journa ed trunnons 6, 6 of sprocket wheels 5, 5'.

A driving shaft 8 revolved in any suitable manner, is journaled in @bearings in the standard 2 and has xed thereto a inion 9 by which it drives, through the i lers 10 and 11, a gear 12 xed on a shaft 13, the latter being journaled in a bearing 14 fixed on the front of the trough 3 and in the bearings 15 carried by the standard 2. The shaft 13. extends longitudinally through the tempering trough and has xed thereto, within the trough, a sectional casting 16 carrying a plurality of angularly disposed knives 17 and the semi-circular wipersflS, which feed the clay forward and linto a' hop er or press box 19 in the front of the trough.

The hopper 19 has a' ielding wall 20 formed by a curved plate xed on a shaft 21 journaled in bearings in the trough, one end of the shaft passing through a side of the trough and having xed thereon an arm 22. The arm 22 has connected therewith a spring 24 connected to the trough and permitting the plate to yield when the pressure in the hopper reaches a predetermined oint.

A door or plate 25, secured to t e front of the trough, and a bar 26, fixed to the frame by rods 26', provide ides for a vertically mlovable plate 27 sli ingly engaged to the door by the turn buttons 28 thereon. The plate 27 has fixed thereto a pressure bar 29 provided with a knife 30, and the front of the trough 3 adjacent the door 25 is cut away to permit the clay in the hopper 19 to impinge upon the knife and enter the recess 19 between the door 25 and the pressure bar 29, whereby pressure on the clay in the hopper acts through the pressure bar to depress the knife 30.

A ram or plunger 31 is connected by a rod 33 with a walking beam 32, the walking beam being ivoted to a rocking support 3 on the troug 4and reciprocated, to reciprocate the plunger, by a pitman 34 ivotally connected with the wrist pin 35 o a crank 35 fixed on the shaft 13, the plunger being guided by the front of the trough and the guides 36.

A` die 37, disposed in the outlet 38 from the hopper, contains the partitions 37 and has openings 37. in its face so that clay pressed` therethrough by the action of the plunger 31 may act freely on the prsure bar 29 to depress the knife 30 and to permit the "return of surplus clay struck from the Ybricks directly to the hopper.

A plurality of molds 38 are introduced into the housing 4 through the hinged Section 4'* thereof and contain recesses 39 for the reception of teeth of the sprocket wheels 5, 5', by which the molds are movable Within the housing so as to be brought in sequence beneath the die, the molds being supported and guided intermediate of the sprockets by flanges 4' and 4" of the houslng. A roller 42, journaled in the housing 4 beneath the plunger, acts as an anvil for supporting the mold which is being filled against the blow of the plunger.

The trunnion 6 has thereon a ratchet wheel 43 provided with teeth 44 adapted to and pinion 54, whereby the molds are given a step by step movement in synchronism with the movements of the plunger.

The housin 4 has fixed thereto, adjacent tothe strike nife mechanism, a casing 55 forming a way in which slides a bumper bar 56. A pitman 57 has one end thereof con nected with the pin 58projecting from the bar 56 through the slot 59 in the casing and the other end thereof pivotally connected with the eccentric wrist pin 59 of a wheel 60 on the shaft 61, the latter shaft being journaled in the frame and rotated through a sprocket 62 thereon from the sprocket 63 on the shaft 8 by the sprocket chain 64.

The bumper 56 is provided with depending arms 65 containing recesses 66 in which are disposed bumper pins 67 movable through a ertures in the ends of the arms and provi ed with collars 68. Springs 69, disposed between these collars and the bases of the recesses 66, press the pins 67 outward so that upon the reciprocation of the bum er bar by the mechanism described they pro]ect through apertures 70 in the housing 4 and strike the mold in line therewith cushioned blows to loosen the clay from the walls of the molds.

When a. filled mold has passed the bumper i and reached the position X, under the hinged sections 4* of the houslng, a allet 88' is placed thereon, such pallets ing held in dplace durin further movement'of the mol by bands 71 and 72 of the housing.

A table 73 is pivotally connected 'wi levers 74 fulcrumed on housing 4, the table being counterbalanced by a wei ht 76 so as to be normally maintained a. ]acent to the ends of the bands 71. When, however,-a mold passes beyond the bands, the pallet thereon and bricks therein, which have been loosened by the actiml of fixed to cross rods 72 f bearings on the the bumper, drop onto the table, whereupon, the counter-balance being overcome, the table drops and deposits its loadupon the conveyer 77, sutabl o erated by-a sheave 78 driven by a be t 9 passing over the sheave 49.

A sand reservoir 80, supported upon a platform 81 of the frame, has a gate 82 normally held closed by a spring 82. The gate is opened periodically by the engagement therewith of a lug 83 carried by the pitman 47, whereupon sand esca es from the reservoir into a chute 84 whic leads to a sander 85 disposed beneath the line of travel of the emptyT molds. Blades 86 are fixed to a shaft 86 Journaled in the sander casing and driven through the meshing miter gears 87 and 88, shaft 89, sprocket Wheel 90, chain 91 and sprocket wheel 92 on the shaft 61.

It will be understood that, in operation,

Vthe clay is comminuted and tempered by the action of the knives of the pug mill and fed into the hopper by the wipers or blades 18. The descent of the plunger 30 forces clay through the die into the mold supported beneath it and against the pressure bar and strike knife, the knife being thereby depressed so as to shear surplus material from and smooth the tops of the bricks passin thereunder. On the upward movement o the plun er, the suction created and the adhesion o the clay draw up the pressure bar and knife, together with the clay sheared thereby, the clay being returned to the hopper through the open faces of the die. When the mold reaches the line of the apertures 70, it is subjected to the cushioned Vyibratory strokes of the bumper mechanism,

whereby the clay is loosened from the mold walls, so that after passing the bands 71, the

allets and bricks will drop onto the table,

y which they are deposited on the conve er. With each movement of the molds, the oor of the sand reservoir is opened to allow a proper amount of sand to run down the chute 84 to the sander 85, where it is thrown by the blades 86 into the molds, any surplus sand droppin into the chute and returnin to the san er.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. A brick machine comprising a housing having bearings forming an endless path, sprocket wheels journaled in said housing, a plurality of disconnected molds engaged and intermittently movable in said path by said sprocket wheels, means for filling said molds, a way carried by said housing, and a bumper reciprocable in said way transversely to the path of and into contact'with a mold engaged by one of said wheels.

2. In a brick machine, a housin having a guideway, a lurality of in ependent molds disposed within the housing, sprocket wheels arranged to engage the molds successively for moving them in the guideway and means -for bumping said molds their engament by the s ket wh e.

3. a brick ma fue, a .having a nideway,v a plurality of independent mo ds disposed wlthin the sprocket Wheels arranged to engage them y -s successively for moving them n the bguideway and a reciprocating adaptedfto move at right angles to the direction of amovement of the molds in the guidewa-y vfior bumping said molds while latter :are engaged by the sprocket wheels. r

4. n a mick machine, yfa housing having a Fuideway, `n lurallity dei independent mo ds disposed thin the'fhousing, sprocket wheels arranged 4to'eng'age themolds successively for theminttheg ideway and a reciprocating bumper 'Inova e in a direction at rightunglesitoiaefiireotion to movement of #the :molds Vtheguideway, said bumper beingarranged tobump the molds at both fonds thereof ',while the molds are engaged `le the sprocketwheels.

5. Inia rick machine,thecombination of a housing having an'endless gguideway, a

pluralit dfndependentmolds disposed in the gui` 'Way in parallel relation, each of said molds'having arecess,r a pair of sprocket wheelsihavingftethfarranged to enter the recesses'f' e mlsfsuccessively for movling thermolds alod' g'the guideway and for preventing 'an en wise movement of the at lht angles to the movement of the' rmliis and arranged to en both ends ofthe molds for bumping t e molds while @they lire engaged by one of the sprocket t l In a brick machine, the combination di eahousing having bearings forming an mndiess path, a plurahty of diseolmected molds movable in saidA path and pantiallry :supiporbed by said beati and d wi h rreeesses, means for ii ing said molds 'with clay, a bumper for striking saidlled lmlds, and a sprocket wheel having 1ar1an` 'rito enter the recesses in Vsazidinrdldsforh lding said molds against the .nmneteo'f 'sakl I bumper and for movin saidway.

In testimony where I ihm Fhereuntoeset my name this 23th day 'ci November l. amas 

